If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

That is a great looking stone John . I am just curious (and sorry about the ignorant question here). I have an Nakayama Maruka Asagi stone and it is gray-ish in color (like most that I have seen). Yours looks yellow. I didn't know that Asagis come in yellow...perhaps the quarry/mine vary between Asagis or result of lighting/photo?

Thanks Robert. It is one of the prettier hones I have - wish I had the time/need to use it often enough to justify keeping it. But it only gets used on rare occasion and SRAD has set in (come heck or high water I'm going to get my hands on either a Filly or a Wacker).

As for your question, Asagi do indeed come in a variety of colors ranging from grey to yellow to yellow and gray and even pink (there's a great collection of pics at The Japan Blade showing the beautiful range of colors they can be found in)...

...and, from what little I've seen/read, I think you may be right in that it has something to do with section of the Nakayama quarry/part of the strata layer the stone comes from.

Considering the information you've provided, and the number stamp on the bottom, I'd say this is one of 330mate's stones. It also fits the profile, in that the size/thinness is typical of his hones.

I have an Asagi I got from him, and it is really superb, but I wouldn't claim that it was a Nakayama.

While this may be every bit as good as a genuine Nakayama, it can't be called one unless it has (or had) the Nakayama quarry stamps. It's like there are some Thuringians that are as good, or better than, genuine Escher hones, but unless they have the Escher labels, they cannot be claimed to be Eschers.

Actually, there's quite a few, very reputable sellers who identify stones as "Nakayamas" when they know that the stone is from that quarry, even when there are no stamps visible. (Stamps get removed when the stone is first lapped, unlike Eschers.) I have purchased Nakayamas without stamps from both Alex Gilmore and So Yamashita, and I have no doubt that these sellers are telling me the correct information about their stones. Tstebins is also a seller whose word I think you can rely on here.

This is pretty yellow for an Asagi isn't it? I am new to Jnats but this is more Kiita colored isn't it?

As I explained in my earlier post - asagi come in many colors including gray, yellow, and even pink. There is a very good collection of pics of the wide range of colors Asagi come in at TheJapanBlade.com (the linked page shows several types of stones - e.g. asagi, kiita, etc. - but if you click on the individual stones you'll see that many are asagi in a variety of colors).

Most of the stones I got from 330mate weren't on the site. I was buying a bunch so he offered me stuff from other collections. Back then I was the only person on the forums buying stones from him on a regular basis. Once the demand rose and he was getting buyers from all over, he no longer gave me that special attention so I moved on.